Future Dispatching Bill Cumpston and Jason Lawrie REQUIREMENTS

Future Dispatching Bill Cumpston and Jason Lawrie

REQUIREMENTS TAXIS HIRE CARS, WATS As many bookings as possible Control numbers of bookings Wait times not major consideration Wait times critical for hire cars, important for WATs. Driver not normally relevant Driver often relevant

OPTIMISE Minimize Distance

OPTIMISE Current Rules

OPTIMISE Time

Dispatch is Complicated Various algorithms – zone, distance, cover Fleets have different requirements Explanations are complicated Not yet perfect

Our Current Algorithm Inputs Pickup Addresses Destination Addresses Requested Pickup Time ASAP or Pre-Booking Requested Vehicle Attributes (WAT, etc. )

Our Current Algorithm Inputs Preferred vehicle or driver Current passenger wait time Relative priority of attributes (must do maxi) Driver plotting Vehicle vacant time Blacklist preferences

It will not be getting simpler! Driving time from current position Time criticality (e. g. meeting a train) Current driver earnings per hour Driver rewards earned Driver penalties incurred

And that’s not all …. Driver end of shift time and location Distribution (E. g. “trip” run fairness) Pre-allocation (E. g. private jobs) Distribution to sub-networks or “friends” Changes for peak or normal periods

Many things are Trade-offs Customer experience vs. Cost Reduction? Driver fairness vs. rewards and penalties?

Weighting Based Algorithm High level categories provide a guide This is combined with an “input” weighting Add reward or penalty scores Car or job with highest score wins

Who Likes Zones and Layering? Can we eliminate zones? Perhaps have some “special” regions (ranks) All distance calculations based on actual directions (including current time of day)

What will drivers see? “Their Score” Will increase over time until they get a job Rewards or penalties will affect their scores In a localised region (e. g. rank) the highest score in a similar vehicle will get job first

But why did. …. . get job …… ? Click “Explain” on any offer Get scores for every vehicle for that offer Can explain to drivers if needed Can be used to tweak weighting

THANK YOU! Questions?